Tag Archives: change

Climate Change Denier’s Own Study Changes His Mind

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Climate Change Denier’s Own Study Changes His Mind

Professor Richard Muller, one of the US’ foremost climate change deniers, has finally changed his views on global warming thanks to a new study… his own. After conducting research on the subject, Muller says he has had a “total turnaround” and is no longer sceptical about the threats of greenhouse gases, according to The Guardian.

The results of Muller’s study, the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature or BEST project, showed that the land temperature has risen 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 250 years, with the majority of that occurring in the last 50 years alone. Even more damningly, the data suggests that the increase is due almost exclusively to human production of greenhouse gases.

Muller, a physicist, admits he was surprised by the findings, but will not deny climate change any more. “As scientists, it is our duty to let the evidence change our minds,” he said.

An Upcoming Tipping Point in North Korea

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http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/11/04/n-korea-on-the-cusp-of-digital-revolution-as-report-shows-mobile-ownership-surging/

There’s an old statistical observation, a country with (if I remember correctly) >50 telephones per 1000 inhabitants can no longer function as a totalitarian or dictatorial state. It’s a tipping point, and whether a government can technically take out telephone exchanges appears to not be an issue. Generally they need the infrastructure to work for them too in complex ways that makes it impossible to take it all out or control access. It’s been observed in Eastern Europe over two decades ago.

If you look at the numbers presented in the article, North Korea is just below the tipping point for fixed lines, with mobiles growing very fast. I’m guessing things are indeed about to change there, on a scope well beyond a “digital revolution”. The leadership can start packing their bags: out within a few years, possibly much sooner.